Apparatus for launching ships.



PATENTED MAY 10, 1904.

HS G. MORSE, DEGD. M. K. MORSE, EXEUUTBIX. APPARATUS FOR LAUNGHING SHIPS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 13, 1903.

7 SHEETS-BHBE'I' 1.

H0 MODEL.

PATENTED MAY 10, 1904.

H. G. MORSE, DEGD.

m. K. MORSE, sxnommx. APPARATUS FOR LAUNGHING SHIPS.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 13, 1903.

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WITNESSES No. 759,734. PATENTED MAY 10, 1904.

H. G. MORSE, DEGD. M. K. monsn, nxnonmzx.

APPARATUS FOR LAUNCHING SHIPS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 1a, 1903. N0 M9 7 SHEETS-SHEET a.

if wmvzssss: if 5 9G PATENTED MAY 10, 1904.

H. G. MORSE, .DEGD. I. x. nonsn, nxnonwmx. APPARATUS FOR LAUNGHING SHIPS.

APPLICATION FILED JU Y13 190a.

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80 MODEL.

PATENTED MAY 10, 1904.

H. G. MORSE, DECD. at. K. MORBB, EXECUTE-IX. APPARATUS FOR LAUNGHING SHIPS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 1a, 1903.

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"H l nwhl ll SE S ' 4g, ATTORNEY PATENTED MAY 10, 1904 H. G. MORSE, DEGD. 11.x. mass, nxnmnnzx. APPARATUS FOR LAUNGHING SHIPS;

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 13, 1903.

WITNESSES m: NORRIS PETERS co, Pnoruumo" WASuJNGTOJ, n. c.

No. 759,734, PATENTEDMAY 10, 1904.

H. G. MORSE, DEGD.

M. K. mass. nxnovrmx.

APPARATUS FOR LAUNGHING SHIPS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 13, 1903.

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UNITED STAT-ES Patented May 10, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

MARY K. MORSE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, EXEOUTRIX OF HENRY (ir. MORSE, DECEASED, ASSIGNOR TO NEW YORK SHIP- BUILDING COMPANY, OF CAMDEN, NEWV JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

APPARATUS FOR LAUNCHING SHIPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 759,734, dated May 10, 1904. Application filed July 13,1903 Serial No.165,27(l. (No niodel.)

To all whom/ if may concern.-

Be it known that H NRY G. Mouse, de

ceased, late a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city and county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, did invent certain new and useful Improvements in Amniratus for Launching Ships, of which the lol-' lowing is a true and exact description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

The invention relates to apparatus for launching ships, and has for its object to provide a construction and mechanism which will cause the vessel to start on the slide down the ways with promptness and certainty.

In launching apparatus as heretofore generally constructed the weight of the ship has been relied upon to cause it to move down the way after the wedges have been driven, the ship set up upon the cradle, and the sawingpiece cut through; but it is well known that it is not infrequent for the vessel to stick, and on such occurrences it has been usual, to use hand-jacks in order to impart further movement to the ship; but the movement of these jacks is so slight and the difliculty of properly placing them and giving them the desirable coordination of movement so great that their use has been found to be a most unsatisfactory expedient.

The object of the invention is to provideas a part of the system of ways upon which the ship is supported and uponwhich it moves power mechanism of great power and ample range of movement and so placed, as to operate in the most effective manner, and this is 3 is a plan view of one side of the launching apparatus, the upper end only being indicated and the scale being still larger than in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the mechanism as shown in Fig. 3'. Fig. 5 is again a plan view of the part of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2, showing a desirable modification thereof, a system of conduits and valves for controlling the admission of fluid under pressure to the rams. Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken approximately on the line (5 6 of Fig. .1, showing the parts on an enlarged scale. Fig. '2' is a longitudinal section through one of the rams, taken as on the line 7 7 of Fig. 8. Fig. 8 is a cross-section through the ram, taken on the line 8 8 of Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a cross-sea tion taken as on the broken line 9 9 of Fig. 41. Fig. 10 is a section on the line 1010 oi Fig. 9. Fig. 11 is a section on the line 11 11 of Fig. 4. Fig. 12 is a central sectional elevation of the accumulator used in connection with the ap paratus. Fig. 13 is a sideelevation of one of thecontrolling-valves used in the construction indicated in Fig. 2. Fig. 1 1 is a longitudinal section through the valve on the line 1 1 1a of Fig. 3, and Fig. 15 is a longitudinal sectional plan view of the controlling-valve as indicated in the construction shown in 'Fig. 5.

A and A indicate the timber structure upon hold the sliding ways in position. These sliding Ways are in turnindicated QC, their upper ends (indicated at O being securely bolted, as is shown in Figs. 3 and 1, to the permanent ways and the supporting-tunber.

0 (indicated in Figs. 3 and i by dotted lines) is the place where the saw cut is made which: separates the sliding way JHOID the permanent way, and just in the frontoi thisplace for the saw cut is built up a strong upwardly-extending abutment, (shown at C,) securely fastened to the slidingway C.

D is a beam or brace preferably made of structural iron or steel, as shown, and firmly secured to a permanentpart of the rear end of the way structure, preferably directly on top of the portion C of the sliding ways which is permanently secured to the substructure, as is shown, for instance, in Figs. 3, 4, 9 and 10.

D D indicate abutment-plates for the rear ends of the ram-cylinders, which are firmly secured to the beams D, asshown, and D D indicate pins secured to beam D, as shown in Fig. 9, and extending through eyes in the strips, (indicated at E E,) which. extend rearwardly and are bolted to the permanent supporting structure at their rear ends, as indicated at E.

F F are ram-cylinders supported, as shown, on the top of the stationary portion 0 of the sliding ways, and their ends abut against the abutments D of the beams D. i

F (see Fig. 7) .is a stuffingbox gland a the open end of the cylinder, F the head closing the opposite end of the cylinder, F and F ports entering the opposite ends of the cylinder, f f cocks connected with other ports entering the opposite ends of the cylinder, F indicating the space left between the plunger G and the sides of the cylinder back of the front end, where the piston fits the cylinder, as shown.

G indicates the piston at the rear end of the plunger (Jr, and G the plunger-head.

H is aconduit by which fluid enters a highpressure pump, (indicated at I, Fig. 1,) H indicating the high-pressure conduit leading from the pump and having a branch H which communicates with an accumulator, (indicated at 1, Figs. 1 and 12.) p This accumulatormay be of any convenientconstruction. As shown, it consists of an upwardly-extending cylinder 1 with which the conduit H communicates at bottom and over which fits and slides the cylinderl supporting at its bottom the weighted receptacle indicated at 1*. The high-pressure conduit H communicates with the ram-cylinders,passing in the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2 to the valves indicated at O and in the construction shown in Fig. 5 to the valve indicated at J, h h, &c., being branch es of the pipe H. 'Describing first the construction shown in Figs. 5 and 1.5, which is the one which it is preferred to employ, the high-pressure conduit H communicates through a T-head (indicated at H with the valve indicated at J and also with the side conduit indicated at H From the valve J a continuation of the conduit indicated at H communicates, through branches H and it, with the rear ends of the cylinders, F F, as shown, and these branches also communicate,through a pipe H, in which is situated the stop-valve K, with an exhaustconduit, (indicated at 7L9.) The conduit H in turn communicates, through branches H and 711 with the rear ends of. the cylindersF F, as shown, and these branches also communicate, through branch conduits indicated at H and if, each having a stop-valve, as indicated at M and m, with the exhaust-conduit h. The valve J, (see Fig. 15,) which is of the globe type, is provided with a valve-seat J, upon which is seated a valve having a cylindrical extension, as indicated at J the cylindrical extension fitting in an open-ended cylinder, (indicated at J?) The valve J has a valveseated port (indicated at J) extending through it, which is closed at proper times by a valve J formed on a head having a certain play to and from the valve-seat and connected in turn with a valve-spindle J which is operated by a lever J pivoted to a link J the lever having secured near its handle end a rod J which (see Fig. 5) is connected to a rod f, having on it a stop J", by an elastic coupling-that is to say, the rod J 9 extends into'a hollow sleeve N, secured to the rod 1', and is connected therewith through a spring N which is fast at one end to a pin N secured to the sleeve N, and to the other. end at a collar N, secured on the rod J In the construction shown in Fig. 5 the ram-heads G have extending up from them pins g g which pass through slots in the ends of a cross-extending bar, (indicated at G said bar having at a convenient point a bearing and stop, (indicated at GJthrough which extends the rod p In the modification illustrated in Figs. 12, 13, and 14 the branches H H of the highpress-ure conduit lead to the valve-casings indicated at O and into chambers O of said casings, which communicate, through appropriate ports, with cylindrical chambers, (indicated at 0 said chamberscommunicating at top and bottom with enlarged chambers O and 0 0* and 0 indicate the separable ends of the valve-chamber, which are formed with cylindrical bearings, (indicated at O and 0 with lateral ports, (indicated at O and 0 said ports leading into chambers connected with the ports 0 0, which in turn communicate, through a common port 0*, .with the exhaust-conduit H. The chambers O 0 in the valve-casing communicate, through ports 0 and 0 (see Fig. 13,) with the conduits HI leading, respectively, to the rear and front ends of the cylinders F, as shown in Fig. 2. P, Figs. 13 and 14, is a valve-stem, to which is secured the piston-valve (indicated at P) having the long ends, to which in turn are secured the sleeved cylinders, (indicated at P and 19 having ports F 11 formed through their sides, as shown. Thevalve and its connections are operated through the hand-lever P, fulcrumed on the link P.

Q, Figs. 1 and 6, indicates the cradle, supported on the sliding ways C C and adapted to support the vessel on said ways when the wedges (indicated at Q) are driven in. The

cradle-sections are connected, as shown, by tie-rods Q, and in these features of construction the apparatus .does not differ from those commonly in use.

R indicates the ship supported on the ways.

It will be seen that the rams G- are normally in retracted position, their heads restingin contact with the abutments 0, built up on the sliding ways C.- Nhen it is desired to launch the vessel, the wedges are driven and the ship thus supported on the sliding ways through the cradle, and the sliding ways are then cut through at the points indicated at 0 0, Figs. 3 and 4. The high-pressure conduit H is under the full pressure provided for by the-aecumulator, and immediately on the severance of the sliding ways the operator, takingfirst the construction shown in Fig. 5, pushes the hand-lever J 7 outward, so as to lift the valve J from its seat and permit the high-pressure fluid to pass to the conduits H H", the stopvalve K being closed by preference and the valves M and on being closed and the valve L opened. The high-pressure fluid is then admitted to the ram-cylinders F F through the ports F F, and acting on the piston G of the ram-plungers the pressure forces the rams outward, and the heads G of the rams abutting against the abutments C of the sliding ways said sliding ways and the vessel supported thereon are moved forward with great power through a very considerable distance and with an accelerating speed which under any conditions to be anticipated will impart suflicient momentum to the mass to insure the launching of the vessel.

1n the arrangement of valves which has been stated to be preferable the fluid contained in the space F of the ram-cylinder will be forced out through the conduits H 71. and the conduit H into the pressure-conduit H; but obviously the same results practically could be secured by closing the valve L and opening the valves M and m, in which case the fluid in the chambers Z will be forced out through the exhaust-conduit 7i".

In order to avoid forcing piston G of the plunger into actual contact with the contract ed front end of the cylinder F, the construction shown in Fig. 5 is provided, consisting of the cross-bars (d and the rods attached to the hand-lever J as described, said bar G moving forward with the rams until-its guiding-abutment G comes in contact with the stop J after which the bar moves forward with the cross bar g d *awing with constantly augmented pressure through the spring M upon the rod J which through its connection with the lever J acts to successively close the valves J and J cutting off the pressure-supply to the cylinders and arresting the motion of the rams. WVhen it is desired to move the rams back to their nornal rcarmost position, the stop-valves K and L are opened and the pressure in the highpressure main admitted to the conduit H H 71. to the front ends of the ram cylinders,where upon the rains will move backward, the fluid in the rear ends of the cylinders escaping through the exhaust-conduit it". The cocks indicated. at f" and f permit another way of exhaustin g fluid from either end of the cylinders.

In the construction indicated in Figs. 1, E2, 13.'and 14 each cylinder F is provided with an independent controlling-valve requiring a separate operator, the valve P being normally in the position shown in Fig. 14. WVhen it is desired to admit pressure fluidfrom the conduit H to actuate the plLinger-cylinder,the

operator moves the lever P" backward, the fiuid then passing from the chamber 0, through the valve-cylinder 0*, into the chamber 0", and thence through the conduit H to the rear end of the cylinder F. At the same time the front endof the cylinder F is placed in communication with the exhaust-pipe H, the upward movement of the valve carrying the sleeve P upward until its lateral ports communicate with the chamber in the head 0*, whereupon the fluid in the eharnberF will pass out through the conduit H into the chamber thence through the sleeve 1 and its port P into the chamber of the head 0, and thence through the port 0" and ports 0 and O to the exhaust H. When it is desired in this construction of valve to return the plungers to normal retracted position, the lever P" is moved downward, reversing the position of the valve and its connections, whereupon the hi gh-pressure fluid is admitted to the front end of the cylinder F and the fluid in the rear end of the cylinder permitted to exhaust.

Having now described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is-

1. An apparatus for launching ships having in combination fixed and sliding ways, a ram or rains arranged to act upon the sliding ways,

a high-pressure main carrying constant pressure connected with the rams and a valve or valves controlling the admission of the highpressure'fiuid to the rains.

2. An apparatus for launching ships having in combination fixed and sliding ways,the sliding way being firmly secured to the fixed way at its rear end and having a stop or ram abut ment, secured to it forward of the point where the saw-cut is to be made,a ram or rams firmly secured to the fixed ways and having ahead or heads abutting against the stops on the sliding ways, a high-pressure main carrying constant pressure connected to the ram or rams and a ICC valve or valves controlling the connection between the main and the rams.

3. An apparatus for launching ships having 1n combination fixed and sl1d1ngways,the sliding way being firmly secured to the fixed way at its rear end and havlng a stop or ram abutment, securedto it forward of the point where the saw-cut is to be made, a ram or rams firmly secured on the rear or fixed end of the sliding ways and also to the fixed ways and having a head or heads abutting against the stops on the sliding ways, a high-pressure main carrying constant pressure connected to the ram or rams and a valve or valves controlling the connection between the main and the rams.

4. An apparatus for launching ships having in combination fixed and sliding ways,the sliding way being firmly secured to the fixed way at its rear end and having a stop or ram abutment, secured to it forward of the point where the saw-cut is to be made, a. beam or beams adapted to serve as a ram-abutment secured on the rear fixed ends of the sliding ways and held in place by straps extending from the beam obliquely forward and firmly secured at their front ends to the fixed ways, rams having cylinders abutted against the beam or beams and plungers abutted against the stops on the sliding ways, a high-pressure main carrying constant pressure connected to the ramcylinders, and a valve or valves controlling the (clonnection from said main to the ram-cyliners.

5. An apparatus for launching ships having in combination fixed and sliding ways, the sliding way being firmly secured to the fixed way at its rear end and having a stop, or ram abutment, secured to it forward of the point where the saw-cut is to be made, a beam or beams adapted to serve as a ram-abutment secured on the rear fixed ends of the sliding ways and held in place by pin-connected straps extending from the beam obliquely forward and firmly secured at their front ends to the fixed ways, rams having cylinders abutted against the beam or beams and plungers abutted against the stops on the sliding ways, a highpressure main carrying constant pressure connected to the ram-cylinders and a valve or valves controlling the connection fromsaid main. to the ram-cylinders.

6. An apparatus for launching ships having in combination fixed and sliding ways, a ram or rams arranged to act upon the sliding ways, a high-pressure main carrying constant pressure connected with the rams, a valve or valves controlling the admission of the high-pressure fluid tothe rams, and mains controlled by the movement of the rams for closing the valves at the end of the determined ram-stroke.

MARY K. MORSE, Eeeeut'r-iw 0 f the estate 0 f lfem'y G. ilfmse, (leceased.

Witnesses:

Josnrn F. ONEILL, D. STEWART. 

